Confederate Monuments: Heritage, Racism, Anachronism, and Who Gets to Decide?

Mandy Tompkins Gibson and Gabriel A. Reich Resources The monuments in our towns and cities are like time capsules. They preserve in bronze Black, Brian and Bryn Varley. “Contesting the Sacred: Preservation and Meaning and stone a set of ideas and values that one generation wishes to pass on to the future. of Richmond’s Monument Avenue.” In Over time, the messages that previous generations wished to send can become part Monuments to the Lost Cause: Women, Art, of the heritage of a particular place, becoming iconic symbols that represent local and the Landscapes of Southern Memory, pride. Monuments can also become anachronistic, particularly when the values they edited by Cynthia J. Mills and Pamela H. represent are no longer shared by the people who live around them. Simpson. Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee Press, 2003.

The American South is dotted with to Monument Avenue in Richmond, Buffington, Melanie and Erin Waldner. monuments to Confederate soldiers Virginia—in 1890, in 1996, and today— “Beyond Interpretation: Responding Critically and statesmen. Many monuments were this article suggests an inquiry into the to Public Art.” In Transforming City Schools erected after Reconstruction when whites future of Confederate monuments. through Art: Approaches to Meaningful K-12 had regained political power and were Controversial public art can be used Learning, edited by Karen Hutzel, Flavia M. C. Bastos, and Kim Cosier. New York: Teachers systematically disenfranchising African to engage students in inquiry projects College Press, 2012. Americans. The monuments were that draw on historical, geographic and designed to instruct younger generations civic skills. Exploring debates about Buffington, Melanie L. “Stories in Stone: born after the Civil War about a narra- monuments in historical context can Investigating the Stories behind the tive historians call the “Lost Cause.” This help students understand continuity and Sculptural Commemoration of the narrative, debunked by scholars, cast the change over time. For example, the pres- Confederacy.” Visual Inquiry 2, no. 3 (September 2013): 299–312. Civil War as a noble, but unwinnable ent meanings applied to such artworks battle between Southern gentlemen who are different than the meaning they held Desai, Dipti, Jessica Hamlin, and Rachel fought for liberty and self-determination for those who constructed them, and for Mattson. History as Art, Art as History. New against Yankee aggression bent on turn- those who opposed their construction, York: Routledge, 2010. ing the South into a colony for Northern in the past. Exploring how monuments Driggs, Sarah Shields, Richard Guy Wilson, merchants and bankers. This collective are used to represent the identity of cit- Robert P. Winthrop, and John O. Peters. memory removes the stain of guilt from ies and towns, engages students in spa- Richmond’s Monument Avenue. Chapel Hill: Southern whites for the enslavement of tial thinking related to geography. The University of North Carolina Press, 2003. millions of African Americans or for addition of new monuments, such as the starting the bloodiest war in American Arthur Ashe Monument in Richmond, Jonathan I. Leib “Separate Times, Shared history. changes the story that is inscribed in the Spaces: Arthur Ashe, Monument Avenue and the Politics of Richmond, Virginia’s Symbolic This article explores how middle and landscape. Taking and defending posi- Landscape.” Cultural Geographies 9 (2002): high school teachers can use historical tions on how such art should be treated 286–312. and contemporary debates to explore in the present, engages students in learn- (1) how public art tells a story; (2) how ing the skills of civic deliberation and Mills, Cynthia J. and Pamela H. Simpson. that story changes over time; and (3) action. Currently, citizens are debat- Monuments to the Lost Cause: Women, Art, and the Landscapes of Southern Memory. how students can play a civic role by ing what should be done with monu- Knoxville, Tenn.: University of Tennessee engaging current debates. Using three ments and symbols that represent the Press, 2003. specific instances of controversy related Confederacy.

Social Education 356 Controversy 2 – Arthur Ashe: Changing the Story In 1995, 30 years after passage of the Voting Rights Act, a proposal was made

Melanie Buffington, 2013 to erect a statue to honor the best known African American from Richmond, tennis champion, author, and civil rights activist Arthur Ashe. Douglas Wilder, the first African American governor of Virginia, who was in office at the time, proposed that Ashe’s statue be placed on Monument Avenue. Many Richmond citizens, both white and black, opposed the location. White heritage groups wanted to preserve the pro-Confederate story told by the statues on Monument Avenue. Some African Americans wanted to change that story to be more inclusive of Virginians of African descent. Other African Americans didn’t want Ashe associated with Monument Avenue and proposed that the statue be placed in a location that didn’t represent the exclusion of African Americans. The document excerpts on p. 359 represent three positions in regards to this plan.

Controversy 3 – Confederate Monuments: Heritage, Racism, Anachronism, or Historical Accuracy? Twenty years after the Ashe Monument, in the wake of the 2015 massacre in a Robert E. Lee Monument on Richmond’s Monument Avenue, unveiled in 1890. South Carolina black church by a white supremacist and the more recent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Controversy 1 – Robert E. Lee: Americans were removed from political Virginia, Americans nationwide are Reconciliation or Exclusion? positions in Richmond soon after federal debating the fate of Confederate sym- Robert E. Lee was a U.S. Army officer troops left in 1870. The process of politi- bols. Some argue that monuments should who became a general in the Army of cal marginalization continued into the be removed because they are symbols Northern Virginia after that state seceded early twentieth century. The unveiling of of racism and hate. Others argue that from the United States in 1861. Lee has the Lee statue came right in the middle of more monuments to famous Virginians, been revered as an icon of Southern aris- this period. Today, it is associated with including African Americans and women, tocracy. When the Lee Monument was the rise of white supremacy. At the time, should be erected to further adjust the unveiled in 1890, the majority of white supporters sought to portray Lee as a story Monument Avenue tells. Another Richmonders viewed it as a great addition national hero who helped bring about group advocates that the monuments be to their city. The generation that fought reconciliation of whites in the North contextualized historically by adding for the Confederacy was still alive, and and South. However, African Americans placards explaining that they represent many prominent civic leaders were veter- perceived the statue as a symbol of their the Lost Cause and post-Reconstruction ans. The year 1890 was also a time when exclusion from the public and political white supremacy. And some believe hope for racial, political, and economic sphere. The document excerpts included nothing should be done. The document equality was fading fast. Through intimi- in this article represent these positions on excerpts on page 360 reflect some of dation, violence and vote rigging, African the Lee Monument. these positions.

November/December 2 017 357 Document Section

Excerpts from Comments on the Unveiling of the Lee Monument

Editorial, The New York Times, May 30, 1890 “It is rather a pity that there were no organized bodies of representatives of the North at the unveiling of the monument to General Lee. The presence of Southern troops at the funeral of General Grant was recognized as a tribute as honorable to the men who paid it as to the memory of the hero to whom it was paid. A quarter of a century after the close of the war ought to suffice to put all its figures in an historical perspective…. While [Lee] was no doubt doing what he believed to be his duty in ‘going with his State,’ [against the United States] there is no question at all that his conduct throughout the war, and after it, was that of a brave and honorable man. His memory is, therefore, a possession of the American people, and the monument that recalls it is itself a National possession.” In Brown, Thomas J. The Public Art of Civil War Commemoration: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

End of Archer Anderson speech at the Unveiling of the Lee Monument, May 19th, 1890 (Anderson was a former Confederate Army officer)https://archive.org/details/robertedwardleea00ande “[Lee] recognized that the unity of the American people had been irrevocably established. He felt that it would be impiety and crime to dishonor by the petty strife of faction [partisanship] that pure and unselfish struggle for constitutional rights, which, while a single hope remained, had been loyally fought out by great armies, led by heroic captains, and sustained by the patriotic sacrifices of a noble and resolute people. He, therefore, promptly counselled his old soldiers to look upon the great country thus reunited by blood and iron as their own, and to live and labor for its honor and welfare. His own conduct was in accord with these teachings. … “Let this monument, then, teach to generations yet unborn these lessons of his life! Let it stand, not as a record of civil strife, but as a perpetual protest against whatever is low and sordid in our public and private objects!” In Brown, Thomas J. The Public Art of Civil War Commemoration: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

Editorial, Richmond Planet, an African American newspaper, June 7, 1890 “The Negro was in the Northern processions on Decoration Day and in the Southern ones, if only to carry buckets of ice- water. He put up the Lee Monument, and should the time come, will be there to take it down … who could do without the Negro? You may say what you will, the Negro is here to stay. Nothing goes on without him. He was in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the War of the Rebellion, and will be in every one that will take place in this country…. “An old colored man after seeing the mammoth parade of the ex-Confederates on May 19th and gazing at the rebel [Confederate] flags, exclaimed “The Southern white folks is on top—the Southern white folks is on top!” After thinking a moment, a smile lit up his countenance as he chuckled with evident satisfaction, “But we’s got the [Federal] government! We’s got the government!” In Brown, Thomas J. The Public Art of Civil War Commemoration: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004.

Social Education 358 Located at the corner of Roseneath Road and Monument Avenue, this statue was erected in 1996 to honor tennis champion, author, civil rights activist Arthur Ashe, a Richmond native.

rvaphotodude/via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0

Excerpts Related to the Ashe Monument

Michael Paul Williams, “Ashe Monument Could be Symbol of Reconciliation,” Richmond Times Dispatch, June 26, 1995 “Richmond could not craft a stronger symbol of racial reconciliation than placing a black man of Ashe’s heroic stature among the Confederate monuments. Ashe … will lend color and a sense of balance to a street that has come to symbolize Richmond’s bitter legacy of racial tension.” Virginia Commonwealth University’s Newspaper Microfiche collection,www.library.vcu.edu . Available for purchase at www.richmond.com/ archive/.

Editorial, “Richmond’s Vision,” Richmond Free Press, an African American newspaper, July 6-8, 1995 “Placing an image of Arthur Ashe in the same row now occupied by pro-slavery generals would serve not only to demean his outstanding work for human justice and freedom, but also serve to confuse and mislead viewers about heroes and villains…. “Arthur Ashe was a genuine hero who epitomized the highest values and vision for Richmond. The Rebel generals epitomized Richmond in the pits, at its worst.” Virginia Commonwealth University’s Newspaper Microfiche collection,www.library.vcu.edu

Ed Moore, “Confederates and Ashe Not in Best Company,” Daily Press, June 21, 1995 “The politicians want to put Ashe’s statue along a promenade with Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Matthew Maury and J.E.B. Stuart. What’s wrong with this picture? Everything. “They have besmirched Arthur Ashe. They have equally besmirched the Civil War generals, who in their defense of Virginia probably never considered the advancement of professional tennis to be part of the equation. “They belittle history and a war that brought 600,000 deaths. They disparage sports, which in all the beauty and pageantry serves as symbol of people attempting to do their physical and mental best, the exact opposite of war and its horrors.” articles.dailypress.com/1995-06-21/sports/9506210074_1_ashe-s-statue-arthur-ashe-civil-war

November/December 2 017 359 USING THE INDIAN REMOVAL Current Controversy ACT TO TEACH CRITICAL THINKING Editorial, “Airbrushing Confederate History is Not the Answer,” The from page 350 Washington Post, September 14, 2015 “There’s value in historical introspection. History is complex; the more that Americans delve into that complexity, the better. No doubt, it’s hard knowing precisely where 15. Treaty with the Choctaw. Kappler. http://digital. to draw the line between irredeemably offensive historical symbols (such as the library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ cho0310.htm. Confederate flag) and those whose legacy is politely termed ‘mixed.’ 16. Treaty with the Seneca. Kappler. http://digital. “Yet it’s a dangerous business to airbrush the past [by removing the Confederate library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ Monuments], a practice more characteristic of totalitarian societies than free ones. sen0325.htm#mn. President Franklin D. Roosevelt led the nation through the trials of World War 17. Treaty with the Seneca and Shawnee. Kappler. http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/ II; he also forced tens of thousands of American citizens into internment camps treaties/sen0327.htm. because of their Japanese heritage. Should his name be erased from public places 18. Treaty with the Shawnee. Kappler. http://digital. and institutions? No. library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ sha0331.htm. “It’s wiser to learn from history and provide its context than to banish it. In Frederick, 19. Treaty with the Ottawa. Kappler http://digital. in 2008, city officials placed a bronze plaque steps from Taney’s bust, acknowledging library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ott0335. that the chief justice, who also served as attorney general and treasury secretary, had htm#mn2. ‘revealed the content of established racism’ by his Dred Scott opinion. 20. Treaty with the Wyandotte. Kappler.http:// “That seems to us to be moving in the right direction. Leave the bust; provide some digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ wya0339.htm#mn5. context; teach the history.”* 21. Treaty with the Muskogee (Creeks). Kappler. *Note: In March 2017, the bust of former U.S. Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was relocated to Mount http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/ Olivet Cemetery in Frederick. treaties/cre03 41.htm#mn1. 22. Treaty with the Seminole. Kappler. http:// digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ Michael Paul Williams, “It’s Time for Confederate Monuments to Come sem0344.ht m#mn8. Down,” Richmond Times Dispatch, June 25, 2015 23. Treaty with the Cherokee. Kappler. http://digital. “… what happened in Charleston should make clear that these symbols [of the library.okstate.edu/kappler/Vol2/treaties/ Confederacy] are unworthy of protection and state support outside of a museum. che0439.htm. “Every day, in Richmond, those [Confederate] monuments demand that we [African Americans] turn the other cheek, or even confer tribute to the men on those pedestals through tax dollars. Would Richmond tolerate taxpayer-supported monuments to Carol Buswell holds a current elementary black supremacy? It asks a lot of our African-American citizenry to accept these teaching credential in Washington state and statues as immutable. an M.A. in American Indian Studies. She is the “I had hoped that the inclusion of true freedom fighters on that boulevard would education specialist at the National Archives in lend balance and context to Monument Avenue. That hasn’t happened beyond the Seattle, specializing in online teacher and stu- dent development. She can be reached at carol. relatively small Arthur Ashe statue, and given the size and scale of the Confederate [email protected]. monuments, it seems unlikely that it ever will.”

Kimberlee Ried and Andrea (Ang) The Virginia Flaggers, “Confederate Air Force Takes Flight in the Capital Reidell served as co-editors on this article. of the Confederacy” Kimberlee is the public programs specialist at the National Archives in Kansas City and can http://vaflaggers.blogspot.com, September 21, 2015 be be reached at [email protected]. Ang is “This group [calling for the removal of Confederate monuments], like so many others the education specialist at the National Archives around the country is attempting to exploit an unrelated tragedy in South Carolina in Philadelphia and can be reached at andrea. [email protected]. as an excuse to cast aspersion on our Confederate Veterans and force their lopsided, uneducated, politically correct view of history on all of Richmond’s citizens. Recent polls have shown that the majority of the citizens of the Commonwealth, including the Governor, do not want to see any of our Veterans’ monuments or memorials disturbed or removed.… “As the proud descendants of the Confederate soldiers who bravely fought to defend the Commonwealth, we will not sit by quietly and allow the attempted destruction of our history to continue. The Virginia Flaggers have coordinated patrols of the city’s monuments each night since June 26, when one of our folks surprised a vandal in the act of defacing the Jefferson Davis Monument. Thanks to information they were able to provide, and evidence left at the scene, the perpetrator was subsequently arrested and convicted.”

Social Education 360 What criteria should be considered when deciding the future of controversial public monu- Compelling Question ments?

Common Core: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.6, RH.6-8.7; RH.6- 8.8; RH.11-12.1; RH.11-12.2; RH.11-12.4; RH.11-12.6; RH.11-12.7; RH.11-12.8 Standards and Practices Virginia Standards of Learning Middle School: USII 1a, b, c, d, e, g, i, j; 3b; 4c; 9a High School: VUS 1a, b, c, d, f, g, h, i, j; 7e; 8d; 13c

This inquiry offers an entry point for exploring the end of Reconstruction and its enduring ef- fects. The teacher could begin by having students respond to one of the following statements: Staging the Question (1) “The South lost the Civil War but won the peace”; (2) “History is written by the victors”; or (3) novelist William Faulkner’s quote “The past isn’t dead, it isn’t even past.”

Supporting Supporting Supporting Question 1 Question 2 Question 3

What story do Confederate monu- What do today’s community activ- Why have Confederate monuments been controversial at ments tell about the Civil War? Why ists and thought leaders believe different times? How have those controversies changed would some people want to tell should be done with Confederate over time? that story? monuments?

Formative Formative Formative Performance Task Performance Task Performance Task

Students will familiarize them- Analyze images of the monuments. Students analyze the historical documents, summarize selves with current debates about Analysis should begin with a physi- the arguments, and synthesize a description of the Confederate monuments. The cal description of the monuments controversies that raged at two points in time. A goal of document excerpts provided and end with inferences about the this exercise is to get students to recognize elements of indicate 3 alternatives. Students meaning that the artist wished to continuity and change in these controversies over time. should be able to summarize these convey about the subject, and the It will be useful to have students compare their own arguments and to provide reasons implications of that meaning for interpretations of the meaning of the monuments with why someone might support or how the Civil War is remembered. those of the authors of the documents. reject each.

Featured Sources Featured Sources Featured Sources

Images of Lee Monument and Arthur Lee Controversy Documents (Excerpts), Ashe Controversy Current Controversy Document Ashe Monument Documents (Excerpts) Excerpts

Students should discover who has jurisdiction over the monuments, and the names of groups Summative that support the various positions on them. Students should choose a group or institution that Performance Task they want to study. They will write arguments in the form of letters in which they respond to the Compelling Question.

Students can elect to send their letters, or teachers can have the students choose the letters Taking Informed Action that they feel best articulate their position(s) on Confederate monuments and mail those letters to the institution, political figure, or advocacy group that they believe will be most effective.

Mandy Tompkins Gibson received her master’s in history from Virginia Commonwealth University and is currently an education park aide at Historic Oak View County Park. She can be reached at [email protected]. Gabriel A. Reich is an Associate Professor of history and social studies education at Virginia Commonwealth University. He can be reached at [email protected].

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